Plague Inc., the strategy sim where you create and nurture a pathogen in an attempt to destroy all the pesky humans, is now getting an anti-vaxxer scenario thanks to a Change.org petition. 

Ndemic Creations noticed the petition last week, which wanted the developer to add anti-vaxxers as a buff. In Plague Inc. your pathogen has certain traits that makes it more or less effective in different situations and can, during the course of a game, evolve into a more powerful disease. But humanity can take lots of precautions, shutting down airports, giving out inoculations. Anti-vaxxers, then, would be a plague's best pal. 

Instead of just adding a buff, Ndemic said it would add an anti-vaxxer scenario if the petition got to 10,000. It's currently sitting at just over 20,000.

Plague Inc was ported to PC as Plague Inc: Evolved, and hopefully we'll see the anti-vaxxers infecting our version of the game, too. It also supports user-created scenarios, so if we don't get the official one, maybe a diligent modder will work their magic. 

Previous scenarios have tackled other serious issues like Brexit and vampires. 

Infectious disease simulator Plague Inc. has introduced Shadow Plague, a new update which makes surviving the viral pandemic even harder than before.

"The Shadow Plague is a sentient, mutagenic pathogen which triggers a powerful thirst for blood in its chosen host. Can humanity defend itself against a powerful vampire attacking from the shadows?" asks the Steam Community page update. I'm not sure that it can, however the human race well, those who're based in the UK might've even more troublesome hardships ahead: how to negotiate Brexit.

You see, beyond the vampyric culture that's evidently surfaced, Shadow Plague adds Brexit events whereby players can "influence whether the UK has a soft, hard or 'brutal' Brexit" and can even opt to keep Britain in the EU. On the vampire front, players can feed, grow and transform into "monstrous" bats so as to "strategically set up lairs and shadow portals."

In order to stay powerful, you'll create worshipping slaves and can use "Blood Rage" to combat vampire-hunting Templars, not to mention the World Health Organisation who surely isn't standing idly by. "Cover the world in darkness," continues the post. "Master unique gameplay mechanics and strategies to help your vampire rule the world!"

NDemic Creations' James Vaughan signs off with the suggestion that this plague is not like anything we've encountered in Plague Inc. before. Which, between phantasma and divisive politics, I think goes without saying.

Usually, if a virus stops adapting, it's finished. Fittingly, Plague Inc: Evolved will receive its final Early Access update on February 18, wrapping up two years of development. To their credit, the devs have implemented each and every feature they pledged at the start of the project in addition to requests from players.

Evolution (update) 18, which will take Plague, Inc to version 1.0, will introduce co-op mode to Steam's premiere pandemic simulator, joining the head-to-head play added in December. You and a pal take charge of two different diseases and attempt to bring down civilisation in tandem. That feels a bit unfair on humanity, but I do have a vested interest in not being riddled with disease. Fine detail on the update can be found on Plague's Steam community page.

40,224,866,097,135,818 people have been infected by Plague, Inc players. Here's to many more.

Plague Inc. Evolved is an odd sort of game in which you create a virulent disease, then unleash it upon the world, nurturing it through various adaptations with the ultimate goal of bringing about the end of humankind. We were a little iffy on it in our 2014 Early Access report, but the user reviews on Steam are very positive, and I thought the mobile version (it was originally released for Android and iOS devices in 2012) was quite good. Multiplayer was planned for the PC edition from the get-go, and next week the long-awaited versus mode will finally arrive.

"In VS. mode—the world is unlucky enough to be infected by two deadly plagues who are battling for control of the world," developer Ndemic Creations wrote. "Whoever infects the world first wins but they must also avoid being cured by humanity or prematurely eradicated by the other plague!"

The multiplayer mode will add new evolutions, abilities, and genes that will assist players in their efforts to wipe out the scourge that is humanity. For example, "Immune Shock" will overload the immune systems of people infected with both diseases, enabling a cooperative kill-off of millions, while "Genetic Exposure" will let you help humanity develop a cure—but only for the competing disease. Because there's only room in this world for one ultra-lethal pathogen.

The Plague Inc. Evolved multiplayer update is set to arrive on December 1. Get the details on Steam.

Thanks, Polygon.